The present invention relates generally to toys and novelties and, more particularly, is concerned with an illusion device attachable to the forearm of a puppeteer and usable in conjunction with a forearm-length puppet in a manner which will create an illusion that the puppet is sitting and moving in an unsupported fashion on the outstretched arm of the puppeteer.
Puppets adapted to be positioned over the forearm and hand of a puppeteer and manipulated by the puppeteer's hand and fingers have long been known in the art. Some representative examples of puppets of this type in the prior art are the ones disclosed in U.S. patents to Lemieux (U.S. Pat. No. 1,641,175) and Synder (U.S. Pat. No. 2,795,896). Puppets of this general type share one common characteristic in that no attempt is made to hide the fact that the puppeteer's forearm is supporting the puppet and his or her hand and fingers are being used to manipulate or animate the puppet.
More recently, several puppets have appeared in the prior art which share a characteristic that is just the opposite of the one mentioned above. Specifically, these puppets attempt to intentionally create the illusion that the puppeteer's hand is being used solely to grasp the puppet or his or her arm is being used solely to support an object upon which the puppet is standing. Thus, the appearance or illusion projected to witnesses by these puppets is that the puppeteer's hand or arm cannot possibly be the means by which the puppet is being manipulated and so a mystery is created as to how the puppet is being worked.
The puppets having this characteristic in common are the ones disclosed in U.S. Patents to Baiera (U.S. Pat. No. 4,304,065) and Edmonds (U.S. Pat. No. 3,526,990). Specifically, in the Baiera patent a walking hand puppet is disclosed. The puppet has a body with finger-insertable appendages and a non-functional or fake glove on the top of the body for creating the illustion that the puppeteer is only grasping the puppet with his or her hand inserted into the glove and thus could not be using the hand to manipulate the puppet. However, instead, the glove is filled with stuffing material and has an internal passage which leads into the body of the puppet. The hand of the puppeteer is inserted through the glove passage into the puppet body with the puppeteer's fingers inserted into the appendages to manipulate them in simulation of walking or crawling.
In the Edmonds patent an artificial arm and hand fastened to the underside of a rigid platform is disclosed. The platform has an opening located proximate the elbow end of the artificial arm which serves as a pocket to receive the puppeteer's own elbow from above the platform. Straps anchored to the platform at the location of the opening are extendable about the puppet-supporting hand and arm of the puppeteer to also support the platform therefrom. The puppet being separate from the platform is placed over the hand and arm of the puppeteer after the platform is attached thereto. When placed over the puppeteer's hand and arm, the puppet conceals the same. The illusion is created that the puppet is standing unassisted on the platform and the puppeteer's arm and hand are only holding the platform. Instead, the puppeteer's hand is inside the puppet's head where it can manipulate the same. The artificial arm and hand can be formed either of a plastic material, such as latex, rubber or vinyl, or a sleeve stuffed to resemble an arm with a glove attached to the sleeve and having flexible wire inserted therein making it possible to bend the fingers of the glove around the edge of the platform.
The puppets of the aforecited Baiera and Edmonds patents are certainly a step in the right direction toward increasing the entertainment quality or value of puppets in general. However, these particular versions have certain drawbacks which serve to minimize rather than maximize the potential realistic effect that could be created by puppets of this type. First, the puppet of the Baiera patent has limited animation potential. Second, the mere location of the Baiera puppet so near to the fingers of the fake glove is certain to arouse immediately the suspensions of those being entertained that it is the fingers of the puppeteer which are manipulating the puppet's appendages. In the Edmonds arrangement, the use of the platform between the puppet and the arm of the puppeteer would tend to distract from the play or presentation itself. The audience would focus their attention on trying to figure out whether something is mounted on the platform under the puppet instead of concentrating on the presentation being given by the puppeteer. Also, the Edmonds arrangement generally lacks in realism. For instance, the puppet in Edmonds appears to resemble a small boy. However, a small boy sitting on a platform supported on a person's arm has no readily recognizable real-life counterpart. In addition, the use of a platform in the Edmonds arrangement is awkward and cumbersome.
Consequently, a need still exists for a puppet illusion which is more realistic and tends to maximize and enhance its entertainment quality and value, but is one which is relatively simple in construction.